Having warded off the challenge of the third-place Giants, the San Diego Padres can turn their attention upward in the National League West standings when they shoot for a three-game sweep in San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon.
After sitting seven games behind Los Angeles and one game back of the Giants following a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 7, the Padres have won 20 of 30 to draw even with the Dodgers atop the division.
A third straight win over the Giants in the daytime Wednesday would push San Diego at least temporarily into first place, with the Dodgers scheduled for a night game against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif.
Along their way to a share of first place, the Padres have put nine games between themselves and the Giants, relegating San Francisco to pursuit of an NL wild-card spot.
San Diego center fielder Jackson Merrill admitted he and his mates keep track of the standings, though they have more important things at hand.
“Of course we see it,” he said, “but we’re just playing our own game.”
The Padres pounded out 10 hits in each of the first two games in San Francisco, contests started by the Giants’ top two pitchers, Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. Ten of San Diego’s hits have gone for extra bases, including home runs by Freddy Fermin on Monday and Jose Iglesias and Merrill on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Giants have just one double (by Casey Schmitt) and one home run (by Rafael Devers) to show for 18 innings, 7 1/3 of which were thrown by the deep Padres bullpen. Six different San Diego relievers contributed to game-ending shutout ball in the 4-1 and 5-1 wins, allowing a total of five hits.
The Giants will have to hope things are different on Wednesday against Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta (11-4, 2.94 ERA), who is coming off one of his worst outings of the season. In a 10-2 home loss to the Boston Red Sox on Friday, Pivetta was hammered by his old team for five runs in six innings.
The 32-year-old veteran has allowed eight runs in 11 1/3 innings in a pair of outings against the Giants this season, giving him a lifetime record of 2-1 with a 5.84 ERA in seven head-to-heads, including four starts.
Getting hits hasn’t been the problem for the Giants in their run of 12 losses in their past 13 home games. The issue is getting those runners home. San Francisco totaled 24 runs in those games while stranding 97 baserunners.
Typical of the stretch was the sixth inning in the Tuesday loss. Down 4-1, the Giants loaded the bases with one out but failed to get even a single run. Padres reliever Jason Adam entered with three on base and got Patrick Bailey to pop up and Heliot Ramos to foul out.
“It’s a lot of frustration,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said after a game in which Ramos snapped a bat over his knee on an 0-for-5 night with two strikeouts. “Similar theme.”
Riding the momentum of his first big-league win in his last time out against the Nationals on Friday, Kai-Wei Teng (1-1, 5.40 ERA) will get the ball for San Francisco in the series finale. He threw five-plus scoreless innings vs. Washington, permitting three hits and a walk while striking out four.
The 26-year-old right-hander made his major league debut against the Padres in San Diego in March 2024, and he was roughed up for three runs in three innings of relief. Manny Machado had a two-run double off Teng in that contest.
–Field Level Media
